Modular fuel supply device for a gas turbine

ABSTRACT

A gas turbine, in particular a gas turbine aircraft engine, including a fuel supply device and a control device, wherein at least parts of the control device, in particular of an engine control device, are integrated into the fuel supply device.

The present invention relates to a gas turbine, in particular a gas turbine aircraft engine, as recited in the preamble of claim 1.

Known gas turbine aircraft engines have a fuel supply device for supplying fuel to a combustion chamber of the gas turbine aircraft engine, as well as a central engine control device with the aid of which the operation of the gas turbine aircraft engine can be controlled.

A multiplicity of sensors and actuators are connected to the central engine control device, resulting in a high cabling expense between the central engine control device and the sensors and actuators distributed on the gas turbine aircraft engine.

In known gas turbine aircraft engines, the fuel supply device typically has two pumps that are mechanically driven by a gearbox of the gas turbine aircraft engine. The quantity of fuel conveyed by each pump is proportional to the rotational speed of the gas turbine aircraft engine, which in some operating states can result in a large recirculation flow of fuel.

Against this background, the present invention is based on the problem of creating a new type of gas turbine, in particular a new type of gas turbine aircraft engine.

This problem is solved by a gas turbine as recited in claim 1. According to the present invention, at least parts of the control device are integrated into the fuel supply device.

It is proposed according to the present invention to integrate at least parts of the engine control device into the fuel supply device. This decentralizes functions of the engine control device, creating a distributed control system. In this way, the cabling expense between the distributed engine control device and the sensors and actuators that are to be connected thereto can be reduced to a minimum.

According to an advantageous development of the present invention, the fuel supply device has a motor-pump unit having one or more (preferably two) pump(s) and one or more electric motor(s) that drive the pump(s), as well as a respective motor control unit for controlling the operation of the electric motor(s) of the motor-pump unit, the parts of the engine control device integrated into the fuel supply device forming an engine control unit for controlling the operation of the motor control unit. Due to the fact that the fuel supply device has one or more pump(s) driven by electric motors, with the aid of the control functions integrated into the fuel supply device the supply of fuel to the combustion chamber of the gas turbine can be precisely controlled as a function of the operating state, making it possible to minimize a recirculation flow in the gas turbine and losses of efficiency caused thereby.

Preferably, the motor-pump unit, the motor control unit, and the engine control unit are each fashioned as line replaceable units that can be coupled via plug connectors to form an integral assembly that can be exchanged in an installed gas turbine.

Preferred development of the present invention result from the subclaims and from the following description. Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are explained in more detail on the basis of the drawing, without being limited thereto.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of a fuel supply device of a gas turbine according to the present invention.

The present invention relates to a gas turbine, preferably a gas turbine aircraft engine. A gas turbine has at least one compressor, at least one combustion chamber, and at least one turbine. The combustion chamber can be supplied with fuel that is to be combusted via a fuel supply device in the combustion chamber. The function of the gas turbine can be controlled by a control device that, in gas turbine aircraft engines, is called an engine control device.

According to the present invention, it is proposed to integrate parts of the control device into the fuel supply device, in the sense of a decentralized control system. This is explained in detail with reference to the preferred exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of a fuel supply device 10 of a gas turbine aircraft engine. Fuel supply device 10 in FIG. 1 has a motor-pump unit 11 having at least one pump 12, pump 12 being driven or operated by an electric motor 13. In addition, according to FIG. 1 motor-pump unit 11 of fuel supply device 10 has a sensor 14 and a main valve 15, such that a measurement value can be acquired with the aid of sensor 14 on pump 12, and with the aid of main valve 15 the flow of fuel to the combustion chamber of the gas turbine aircraft engine can be blocked or enabled. A respective motor control unit 16 that is integrated into fuel supply device 10 is used to control the operation of the at least one electric motor 13 of motor-pump unit 11. Motor control unit 16 has a plurality of controllers 17 that operate in parallel, a separate power electronics system 18 being allocated to each controller 17. In the depicted exemplary embodiment, each power electronics system 18 allocated to a controller 17 provides 20% of the maximum power for fuel supply device 10, so that after the failure of a power electronics system 100% power is always still available, thus ensuring reliability. Should two controllers 17 and their associated power electronics systems 18 fail, the power is limited to 80% of the maximum power. In addition to motor-pump unit 11 and motor control unit 16, an engine control unit 19 is integrated into fuel supply device 10 according to FIG. 1. Engine control unit 19 is either the complete engine control device or parts thereof.

According to the exemplary embodiment depicted in FIG. 1, the engine control unit 19 integrated into fuel supply device 10 has two controllers 20 that operate redundantly. Controllers 20 of engine control unit 19 control the operation of motor-pump unit 16, redundantly providing all the safety functions for fuel supply device 10. Each controller 20 is made up of at least two computing units, one computing unit performing the controlling and the other performing the monitoring. If a malfunction is determined, a changeover takes place to the redundant controller 20.

According to FIG. 1, measurement signals provided by sensor 14 are supplied to the two controllers 20 of engine control unit 19. Output signals of power electronics system 18 of motor control unit 16 are also supplied to controllers 20 of engine control unit 19.

Motor-pump unit 11, the least one motor control unit 16, and engine control unit 19 are preferably fashioned as modules that can be coupled via plug connectors, said modules being capable of being coupled via the plug connectors in order to form an integral fuel supply device 10. This reduces the required cabling expense to an absolute minimum. Motor-pump unit 11, motor control unit 16, and engine control unit 19 of fuel supply device 10 are what are known as line replaceable units, which can be exchanged in modular fashion when performing repair operations on an installed gas turbine or an installed gas turbine aircraft engine.

Motor control unit 16 of fuel supply device 10 is preferably fuel-cooled. The cooling of engine control unit 19 takes place via motor control unit 16 (conduction cooling).

As already mentioned, engine control unit 19 can be either the complete engine controller or parts thereof. If engine control unit 19 comprises only parts of the engine controller, other parts of the engine control device are distributed around the gas turbine aircraft engine, such as for example one or more signal-conditioning or signal-processing units, as well as one or more intelligent actuators for e.g. electrical adjustment of guide vanes of the gas turbine aircraft engine. The distributed parts of the engine control device can then be coupled via at least one data bus. 

1. A gas turbine, in particular a gas turbine aircraft engine, comprising: a fuel supply device and a control device, wherein at least parts of the control device, in particular of an engine control device, are integrated into the fuel supply device.
 2. The gas turbine as recited in claim 1, wherein the fuel supply device has at least one pump and at least one electric motor that drives the at least one pump, the at least one pump and the at least one electric motor forming a motor-pump unit.
 3. The gas turbine as recited in claim 2, wherein the fuel supply device has, in addition to the motor-pump unit, at least one motor control unit for controlling the operation of the at least one electric motor of the motor-pump unit.
 4. The gas turbine as recited in claim 3, wherein the parts of the engine control device integrated into the fuel supply device form an engine control unit for controlling the operation of the at least one motor control unit.
 5. The gas turbine as recited in claim 4, wherein the motor-pump unit, the at least one motor control unit, and the engine control unit are fashioned as modules that can be coupled via plug connectors to form an integral assembly.
 6. The gas turbine as recited in claim 4, wherein the motor-pump unit, the at least one motor control unit, and the engine control unit are fashioned as line replaceable units that can be exchanged in an installed gas turbine.
 7. The gas turbine as recited in one claim 4, wherein the engine control unit comprises a plurality of redundantly operating controllers, each having one computing unit for controlling and one computing unit for monitoring, said controllers controlling the operation of the at least one motor control unit on the basis of at least one measurement quantity of at least one sensor integrated into the motor-pump unit.
 8. The gas turbine as recited in claim 4, wherein the at least one motor control unit comprises a plurality of controllers that operate in parallel, said controllers controlling the operation of the motor-pump unit on the basis of at least one control signal provided by the engine control unit, each controller supplying a part of the motor power in such a way that, should a controller fail, the full power is still available.
 9. The gas turbine as recited in claim 5, wherein the motor-pump unit, the at least one motor control unit, and the engine control unit are fashioned as line replaceable units that can be exchanged in an installed gas turbine.
 10. The gas turbine as recited in claim 5, wherein the engine control unit comprises a plurality of redundantly operating controllers, each having one computing unit for controlling and one computing unit for monitoring, said controllers controlling the operation of the at least one motor control unit on the basis of at least one measurement quantity of at least one sensor integrated into the motor-pump unit.
 11. The gas turbine as recited in claim 6, wherein the engine control unit comprises a plurality of redundantly operating controllers, each having one computing unit for controlling and one computing unit for monitoring, said controllers controlling the operation of the at least one motor control unit on the basis of at least one measurement quantity of at least one sensor integrated into the motor-pump unit.
 12. The gas turbine as recited in claim 5, wherein the at least one motor control unit comprises a plurality of controllers that operate in parallel, said controllers controlling the operation of the motor-pump unit on the basis of at least one control signal provided by the engine control unit, each controller supplying a part of the motor power in such a way that, should a controller fail, the full power is still available.
 13. The gas turbine as recited in claim 6, wherein the at least one motor control unit comprises a plurality of controllers that operate in parallel, said controllers controlling the operation of the motor-pump unit on the basis of at least one control signal provided by the engine control unit, each controller supplying a part of the motor power in such a way that, should a controller fail, the full power is still available.
 14. The gas turbine as recited in claim 7, wherein the at least one motor control unit comprises a plurality of controllers that operate in parallel, said controllers controlling the operation of the motor-pump unit on the basis of at least one control signal provided by the engine control unit, each controller supplying a part of the motor power in such a way that, should a controller fail, the full power is still available. 